Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC Purchases 3,136 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 4.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 77,656 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,136 shares during the period. Duke Energy accounts for about 0.8% of Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $8,367,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in Duke Energy in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 332.9% in the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 316 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 334 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DUK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Mizuho upgraded Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. KeyCorp cut Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.23.

Duke Energy Trading Down 0.6 %

DUK opened at $110.67 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.49. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $110.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $112.46. Duke Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $90.09 and a 12 month high of $121.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 9.34%. The company’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.94 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.78%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.84%.

About Duke Energy

Duke Energy Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an energy company in the United States. It operates through two segments: Electric Utilities and Infrastructure (EU&I), and Gas Utilities and Infrastructure (GU&I). The EU&I segment generates, transmits, distributes, and sells electricity in the Carolinas, Florida, and the Midwest.